the soil at your roots
by Kelly Westhoff
determines much of your life
rosy hydrangea
Hydrangea are synonymous with summer. These leafy shrubs filled with profuse balls of blooms grace boulevards, lawns, parks, and patios. Cut hydrangea blooms are also popular in floral arrangements. Hydrangea flowers appear in many colors: white, green, pink, lavender, and blue. Sometimes, one hydrangea bush might boast blooms of two different colors. Hydrangea flowers can even change color, going from white one year to blue the next.
How does this happen?
It all depends on the chemical composition of the soil in which the hydrangea grows–the acidity and the aluminum levels are key. Backyard gardeners have all sorts of home remedies to alter the soil composition under a hydrangea bush and thus change the color of the blooms. Some say a bed of pine needles will do the trick while others believe in burying rusty nails by the roots. The most reliable tactic, however, is to stop in a local garden store, ask the advice of a master gardener, and purchase the specialty fertilizer they suggest.
Further reading:
‘Curious Chemistry Guides Hydrangea Colors’, 2014, Schreiber, H., American Scientist, available: https://www.americanscientist.org/article/curious-chemistry-guides-hydrangea-colors
Author bio:
Kelly Westhoff loves fitting words into the 5-7-5 format of traditional haiku. For her, haiku is a practice in mindfulness. She enjoys discovering parallels between her life and nature. She lives in Minnesota where the ever-changing seasons are a constantly-renewing source of inspiration. Find more of her haiku on Instagram @KellyWesthoffWrites.
Read another sciku by Kelly: ‘The Sound of a Worm’.
One Reply to “Your Roots by Kelly Westhoff”